Pump



J. P. LIDIAK May 1o, 1932.

PUMP- `Filed March 28, 1930 [lill l INVENTOR Joseph P Ldok.

BY @Law WITNESS 5.

ATTORNEY Patented May 10, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFplcE ELECTRIC &MANUFACTURING COIPANY, A CORPORATION F PENNSYLVANIA PUIP applicationmeritare-n as, mo. semi No. miei.

' object to improve the efliciency thereof.

In apparatus of this character heretofore known to me, it has been thepractice to pro' vide an inlet opening or eye adjacent the center of therotor or runner, and to supply fluid to this eye by means of a spiral orvolute- 'shaped inlet connection which extends in a plane substantiallyparallel to the eye and communicates at its inner end with such eye. Thepurposel of this arrangement is to produce a rotary efl'ect to the fluidas it nears the eye, which effect is inthe general direction of therot-ation of the runner l.so as to minimize the amount of energyabsorbed by the runner incident to contacti'iwith the fluid.

-Some dfliculty has been experienced in this type of apparatus due tothe fact that all portions of the eye are not supplied with equalamounts of fluid. This is caused by the tendency of the fluid to move tothe outer side of the volute. n

It is, therefore, a more specific object of my invention to provide anim roved form of inlet connection for centri gal pumps or blowers, byreason of which, a rotary motion in the direction of rotation of therunner is given to the fluid as it enters the eye,;.and

in addition, all portions of the eye aresupi plied with suflicientamounts'of fluid.

These and other objects are effected by my invention, as will beapparent from the following description and claims taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, forming a art of this application, inwhich:

The sing e figure is a transverse sectional view through portions of acentrifugal pump or blower constructed in accordance with the presentinvention.

According tothe present invention, I provide partition means within thevolute connection which conform in a general way to the shape of theconnection and divide such connection into applurality of volute-shapepassages communicating at their inner end with different portions of theinlet or eye. By reason of this construction, the desired rotary effec-tis produced adjacent the eye and at the same time fluid is equallydistributed to all portions ofthe eye. Referring now in detail to theconstruction illustrated, the1 reference numeral 10 indicates a pumpcasing, withinwhich is rotatably mounted a runner 11 having impellerblades 12. The runner is fixed to a rotating shaft 13 which may beoperated from any suitable source of power, not shown. The direction ofrotation Vof the runner is indicated by an en arrow. The casing 10 isprovided with an inlet or eye 14 dis osed in a planenormal to the axisof rotation of the runner and adjacent 'the center of the latter. Anoutlet 15 .serves to convey the fluid away from the 65 casing.

uid 1s supplied to the eye 14 by means of a spiral or volute-shapedinlet connection 16. The connection 16 is disposed in a planesubstantially parallel to the plane of the eye 14, and communicates atits inner end with thee 'e. The connection 16 is so arranged that theuid ad'acent the eye is given a. rotary effect in the irectioli ofrotation of the runner 11 `so that the losses due to change in direc- 75tion of flow incident to Contact with the impeller blades are minimized.The above construction and operation is well known in the art andfurther description is therefore deemed unnecessary.

As pointed out above, the entering fluid will tend to travel to theoutside of the volute and starve certain portions of the eye. In orderto remedy this difculty, I provide a plurality of partitions 17, 18 and19 which 85 conform to the general contour of the connection 16anddivide such connection into passages a, b, c and d. The inner ends of 1the partitions 17, 18 and 19, in conjunction with the outer walls of theconnection 16, divide the periphery of the e e 14 int-o equalg segmentsindicated at A, B, and D, which communicate, respectively, with theinner ends of the passages a, b, c and (i.

The passages supply their respective sega ments of the eye with equalamounts of fluid, and are so formed at their inner ends as to cause thefluid to flow in the general direction of rotation of the runner.Furthermore, the partitions, in dividingthe fluid into lo duit meansexten separate strata and in guiding the strata to the eye 14, produce amore uniform pressure andt velocity condition across the curved portionsof the connection 16 and, in addition, eliminateV turbulence or eddycurrents.

, While I have shown my invention in. but one form, it will be obviousto those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but issu'sceptible of various changes and modifications, without departingfrom thespirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only suchlimitations shall be placed. thereupon as are imposed by the rior art oras a're specifically set-forth in y e appendedclaims.

What I claimis:

1. In centrifual `pumping or blowing apparatus, the com ination of arunner mounted to rotate about a iixed airis, means delining a Huidinlet opening adlacent the center of the runner; a s iral. orvolute-shaped cong in a ly parallel to the inlet opening and communi`'eating with such opemng at'the inner end thereof; the conduit meansbeing so-arraned with res t to the eye as to direct the pw of fluid inthe general direction of rotation `of the runner; and partition meansdividing such conduit into a plurality of spiral or volute-shape passacommunicating at their inner ends with 'ferent portionsof the inletopening.

2. The combination with 'a centrifugal pump or blower comprisinga rotaryimpeller,

an outlet, and an inlet opening or eye disposed in a plane-normal to theaxis of rotation of the impeller and adjacent the center thereof; of avolute-shape inlet connection disposed in a lane substantially parallelto.

3. In centri l pumping or blowing ap paratus, the com ination of arunner mounted to rotate about a fixed axis 5 means definmunicating atits inner end with the eye for supplying such eye with fluid, and so,Yarranged with respect to the e e and runner as to cause the fluidadjacent t e eye to flow in the general direction of rotation of therunner; and partition means dis g transversely of the conduit means anconforming to the same eral contour of the conduit means to divide suchconduit means into a plane substantial-a orm in a general way toplurality of canmunicating at their inner ends with theeye; the innerends of the partition means being so a with respect to the conduitmeansfand the eye as to divide such eye into a lurality of segments.

. In testimony whereo I have hereunto subscribed my' name this 27th,*dayo f March,`

JOSEPH P. LIDIAK.

. ing an 'inlet openin or eye ad]acent the cen- 'ter thereof; volute-sape conduit means comlll

